A Recent Train Ride
It had been several decades since I had ridden an Amtrak train, but I rode one recently. Some things were the same as the last time – the seats were all facing opposite of the direction of the train, so we saw where we had been rather than where we were going; scenes outside the train windows were still worth the trip, even if seen backwards; everything sold at the snack bar was old and bad; there was one person in each car who felt called by God to speak very loud, and entertain all the other riders in his car; and, of course, we arrived late. Some things were different – the ride was fairly smooth; the rest rooms were clean; since there was no smoking allowed on the train, we made a smoking stop around two hours into the trip, and those who wanted to smoke got off and smoked beside the train; the blonde in the seat in front of me quickly became best friends with the brunette across the aisle and prior to my change of seats, I learned more than I wanted to know about families, husbands, lifestyles, etc; and, of course, masks were required to be worn at all times. The trip reminded me that life is like that – while some things never change, other things are always changing. However, the good news is that in an ever-changing world, God does not change. In the Old Testament, Malachi 3:6 says, “I am the Lord, I do not change,” and the in the New Testament, Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
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